ArchiveJanuary 2016

Mayor John Tory, TTC Chair Josh Colle (R), and TTC CEO Andy Byford (L) in 2014. After a crazy busy week in which Mayor John Tory endorsed substantial changes to two Toronto transit plans — first for his signature SmartTrack plan and then for the controversial Scarborough subway — I’ve been trying to hold myself to a new mantra: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It’s a bit trite, I...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid a visit to Toronto City Hall last week, causing an absurdly large crowd of onlookers to get very, very excited. There was some swooning. A fire alarm went off for some reason. But after a private meeting with Mayor John Tory, here’s what Trudeau announced for Toronto: nothing. But then, what could he have announced, really? Though it’s well understood that...

Toronto city hall. In one of my favourite episodes of The Simpsons, Homer gets recruited to work for the Globex Corporation, a company run by erstwhile Bond villain Hank Scorpio. In-over-his-head Homer, having being given a supervisory position, has to figure out how to manage his team of employees. “Um, are you guys working?” he asks. His employees tell him they are. “Can you … work any harder?”...

This green stretch of Bellamy Rd., with backyards looking onto a four-lane thoroughfare, is part of a route being considered for the Scarborough subway. Say it, and then say it louder. Make up banners. Put it on a t-shirt. Hell, we should probably even hashtag the thing. Because everyone – and I mean everyone – has to get the message that 2016 at Toronto city hall needs to be the year of...